The Pulaski County Commissioners discussed the last Revolving Loan Fund request until Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer revamps the process.

Origer was before the commissioners last night with Sheila Jimenez, who requested a $10,000 loan for fixtures in order to open a new restaurant on Main Street in Winamac. Jimenez said the Warrior Den will be a finer family dining facility at 121 W. Main Street. She hopes to open in May.

The Pulaski County Commissioners said communication is getting better between the board members and the highway department.

It was announced in January that things needed to be changed at the highway department. The commissioners last week said the main issues were communication, and how to deal with problems and the policy book. That was according to Commissioner Terry Young, who spoke on behalf of the commissioners when the question was posed.

The Pulaski County Health Department received a reimbursable grant for supplies in the office.

Sherry Fagner told the commissioners this week that the State Department of Health Public Preparedness Base Grant is worth $13,460.

“We’re doing some updated packet printing for our partners. As far as supplies, we kind of have a lot of different things on there to update our Go Kits for our partners and to support a POD or any other event that we have to do,” explained Fagner.

The long-awaited repairs at the Pulaski County Justice Center are nearly complete.

Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston told the commissioners this week that the water softeners and the water heaters are installed, and all of the old units have been hauled away. Johnston said the HVAC systems should arrive this week or next week. He will coordinate with offices in the justice center for that equipment to be properly installed. The new control system will be added after that, but Johnston said that could be a while yet.

A random drug test recently done on work release inmates at the Pulaski County Jail found positive results on five out of the six tested, according to Sheriff Jeff Richwine, who reported that to the commissioners this week.

“The stuff that’s getting in the back of that jail is getting there two ways: work release or employees. This time it was work release. None of it got back, but these guys, when they were at work, were taking drugs,” said Sheriff Richwine.

The Pulaski County Council added a line item in the surveyor’s budget in order to finance attorney services and engineering costs.

In a joint session with the commissioners, it was explained that the attorney is doing extra litigation work that would need additional compensation to complete. Tim Murray is the attorney for the surveyor’s office.

The Pulaski County Commissioners and the Pulaski County Council will meet in joint session tonight.

One item the joint board is expected to discuss is the change in the salary ordinance in the highway department. When the commissioners met on Jan. 19, the members voted 2-1 to appoint a person in the position that is second in command at the department. The highway superintendent normally makes that appointment, but Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr., who spearheaded the move, called it a political change. He presented the change for a vote. Terry Young also voted in favor of the change while Commission President Larry Brady was the dissenting vote.

The Pulaski County Commissioners reviewed the copier lease when they met earlier this week.

Commission President Larry Brady told WKVI News that the county experienced hefty overcharges so efforts are being made to correct the problem. The amount of color copies made was the biggest problem. Brady said the staff was not pushing the right button to print in just black and white and they were all color copies. The information has been relayed to everyone so the copier can be utilized properly.

Things are getting better at the highway department, according to Pulaski County Commission President Larry Brady.

When the commissioners last met in January, Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr. made a motion to appoint a person as the second person in charge at the highway department and the change was approved by a vote of 2 to 1. Traditionally, the second person in charge is appointed by the superintendent.

Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine has been busy since taking office. He’s been before the county council straightening out budgeting issues, and he appeared before the commissioners last week where he answered questions about his department.

The commissioners brought up the idea of ridding the county of some of the acquired military vehicles.

“I’m not going to sit and wholesale vehicles,” stated Richwine. “If we have a specific need in the county – if the county highway department wants a truck, I’m more than willing to go on there and look for that and get them that truck. It’s the same way with volunteer fire departments. That all makes sense to me. We’ve already returned some tactical equipment.”

Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine discussed foreclosure/sheriff sales with the commissioners this week.

The sheriff suggested hiring a company to help with the sales which, he said, would save the county money. The county is allowed to charge up to $200 per sale, but the county has only charged $113 for the sale. Sheriff Richwine said the company will take care of most of the sale details.

Pulaski County Commissioner Bud Krohn, Jr. brought up the idea of adding another position out at the county highway garage when they met last week.

He suggested a working supervisor position be created at the Pulaski County Highway Garage and requested a pay raise for that position of $750. He thought that another supervisor position could improve productivity at the highway garage. Krohn said that it would not be an additional employee but just an additional position.

The Pulaski County Commissioners approved an ordinance for the retention of issued duty weapons and issuance of retired identification for certain retired sheriff’s personnel.

The ordinance states that the commissioners may transfer county property valued at$1,000 or less without advertising the transfer or request bids. Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine believes it appropriate to allow an officer who is a retiring county merit deputy or sheriff in good standing to have one of their firearms as recognition of service to the county. That officer or sheriff must have served honorably as a merit officer of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office for a minimum of 20 years. The ordinance affects sheriff’s office personnel who have retired after Dec. 1, 2014.

The Pulaski County Commissioners reorganized to start 2015 where Larry Brady was retained as commission president while Terry Young was appointed as vice president. Bud Krohn, Jr. attended his first meeting as a commissioner Monday night.

The commissioners made several appointments to boards. Mark Fox was retained as supervisor of county highways, Dave Dare was retained as building inspector, Ed Fleury was retained as veteran service officer, Jeff Johnston as maintenance director and Sarah Kasten was retained as animal control officer.

Pulaski County Maintenance Director Jeff Johnston gave the commissioners an update on the equipment installation at the justice center. He said the water heater will be started up today and will run for the rest of the week before the old water heater is taken offline to be sure that everything works properly. The HVAC equipment is being ordered as well as the water softeners.

Johnston said the generator for the health department has been installed but there is a small problem that he is investigating.

Officials are moving forward with the closure of the Pleasant View Rest Home in Pulaski County.

Board President Bob White told WKVI News that attorney Jere Humphrey has called county home officials to help with the paperwork to assist in placing the residents at a different facility or find other arrangements. Humphrey was appointed by the commissioners to help with the actions necessary to close the county home.

The county council at their meeting in December approved the defunding of the county home by a majority vote at their meeting on Dec. 8. Because funding for the county home was not included in the 2015 budget, the county commissioners approved the official close of the facility by a vote of 2-1 on Dec. 23.

The residents or their representatives will be sent a letter and they will have two weeks to notify the attorney of their plan. Once the attorney receives the information of where the residents will be moving, the residents then have 90 days to move from the Pleasant View Rest Home. The facility is expected to be closed on March 31.

White thanked superintendent Deb Girton and the staff for their hard work in taking care of the residents. He also recognized the board members for their efforts.

The Pulaski County Commissioners voted to close the Pleasant View Rest Home during a specially-called meeting Tuesday afternoon.

County Attorney Kevin Tankersley explained that the commissioners really didn’t have a choice since the county council voted to not include the county home in the 2015 budget.

“The council was not going to provide funding for it,” said Tankersley. “The commissioners are going to have to take over the role of closing it because quite honestly the council’s not really set up for that. This is the executive board and the statutes all contemplate that the commissioners are going to take action.”

The Pulaski County Commissioners will meet in special session today to address issues in closing the Pleasant View Rest Home.

By a majority vote, the Pulaski County Council voted to defund the county home in October and that decision was reaffirmed earlier this month by a majority vote.

County Attorney Kevin Tankersley informed the Pulaski County Commissioners last week that there is a lot to go through to close the facility. He met with an attorney in Plymouth last week to see if that attorney would take over the responsibility of overseeing the process as he thought that would be a better practice.

Pulaski County Commissioner Tracey Shorter was recognized by Commission President Larry Brady for her years of service to the residents of Pulaski County.

Brady presented Shorter with a plaque. Shorter did not run for re-election in this year’s election for her seat on the county commission. Bud Krohn, Jr. will begin his four-year term on Jan. 1. The first meeting of the Pulaski County Commissioners in 2015 is Jan. 5.

Ed Clark gives his last report as director of the Pulaski County Recycling Center.